VULTURIN^E. 3 



very thick and strong ; crown of the head flat ; cranium very 

 large, otherwise as in Vultur. 



Otogyps calvus, Scop. 



2, Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 7 ; Butler, Guzerat; Stray 

 Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 441 ; Deccan and South Mahratta 

 country ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 369 ; Murray's Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, p. 62 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central 

 India; Ibis, 1885, p. 53; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 8. 



THE INDIAN KING VULTURE, 

 Lai Siri Gidh, Hin. 



Length, 30 to 33 ; expanse, SO to 88 ; wing, 22'5 to 24 ; tail, 

 9-8 to 11 ; tarsus, 43 to 4*6 ; bill from gape, 2'6 to 3. 



Bill black; cere naked; head and neck deep yellowish-red, 

 more or less spotted with black ; irides red-brown ; legs dull-red. 



Dark brown-black, lighter on lower back and rump, brownish 

 on scapulars and some of the secondaries ; quills black ; tail 

 black, shaded with brown ; crop-patch black, a zone of white 

 downy feathers across the breast ; beneath deep-black ; inner 

 side of thigh bare, with a patch of white above the joint. 



The Indian King Vulture, or, as Jerdon prefers to call it, 

 the Black Vulture, has been recorded from all parts of the 

 region. It is not uncommon as a rule, but only occurs singly 

 or in pairs, rarely more than two being seen together. It is of 

 a very pugnacious disposition, and admits of no companionship, 

 more especially when feeding. I have often seen a score or 

 more of Gyps fulvescens, or other Vulture, patiently waiting 

 until his kingship had gorged himself on a dead cow or other 

 carcass before they dared approach. It is, I believe, a permanent 

 resident, breeding wherever found. Jerdon states that " it is 

 said to breed usually on inaccessible cliffs." Murray also states 

 that " it is said to do so in Sind." This is contrary to my 

 experience, and it may perhaps be noticed that neither of them 

 speak from their own personal knowledge. I found a nest near 

 Deesa in February ; it was a large, compact, cup-shaped structure, 

 composed of twigs, placed in a thick thorny ber-bush, about ten 

 feet from the ground. Later I found two others in similar 

 situations. The locality where I found these nests was a rather 

 extensive plain, studded with ber-bushes, with occasional high 

 trees dotted here and there, and on one side was a range of hills, 

 offering splendid sites to a cliff building bird, which however 

 they did not avail themselves of. In Central India I have 

 found the nests on lofty trees. The egg there is only one is 

 pale greenish-white when first laid, but after a time, as 

 incubation proceeds, it becomes more or less stained by the 

 droppings of the parent birds. The texture is moderately fine ; 

 the egg lining is green. They vary from a long oval shape 

 to one nearly spherical, but generally speaking they are broad 

 ovals. They average 3'4 inches in length by 2 '6 in breadth. 



